WILLIAM L. DAWSON

Instruments: Vocals, Composer, Condutor
Date of Birth: September 25, 1898
Place of Birth: Anniston, Alabama

William Levi Dawson was born in Anniston, and at the age of thirteen ran away from home to enter Tuskegee Institute. Supporting himself by manual labor, he completed his education there in 1921.

He holds degrees in theory and composition from Horner Institute of Fine Arts in Kansas City, MO, and the American Conservatory of Music. He holds honorary doctorates from Tuskegee Institute, Lincoln University and Ithaca College.

In 1931, he organized the School of Music at Tuskegee, and for twenty-five years conducted the one hundred voice Tuskegee Choir. In 1932-33, this choir was a main attraction at the grand opening of the Radio City Music Hall in New York.

The Tuskegee Choir, under the direction of Dr. Dawson, performed for Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dr. Dawson has made guest appearances throughout the United States and abroad.

He is a recognized authority on the religious folk music of the American Negro, and his choral and orchestral arrangements are extensively performed. He composed the "Negro Folk Symphony" which premiered in 1934 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski.